Lady Misfortune: Daddy, I'll Be A Righteous Villainess!

"You may just call me Sylvia. I was hired by President Mireille to be your personal attendant from now on. It's a pleasure to meet you, Young Miss."

That can either be good news or bad news for Lady.

Having an extra pair of eyes that looks out for potential danger is good, but having an extra pair of ears around during her private discussions with Fallon is bad. She is not sure what makes a personal attendant different from a caretaker which she already has, yet knowing Maximilian, she is getting the feeling that this is done to have her watched over more closely than before.

And that can also mean that her father has already figured out that she has been breaking his rules even though she is still supposed to be grounded.

"W-W-What do I-I need a p-personal attendant f-for?" Lady tried to ask intrepidly but only to flop miserably.

"Every member of the family has one, Lady. I was actually surprised that you still did not have one until today," Fallon explained in Sylvia's stead.

"Eh? Really?"

"Yeah. Mine is back at home." 

"Is having someone like that okay? How is it?"

"Quite helpful. You will need yours as you grow up. Trust me."

She looks at Sylvia once more, regarding her in contemplation. 

Since she has an inscrutably emotionless face that can almost rival Maximilian, she can already tell that it will be hard to guess what she is thinking. Even if what Fallon said was true, it would still depend on whether it was her or her father she would obey more. Nevertheless, Lady has a way to win hearts – she just has to pull the same trick she pulled at her maids. 

'I worked my butt off to make sure that everyone at home is wrapped around my wicked little fingers. So far, I've even gotten a bit more comfortable harassing the maids. They also follow everything I say – well, most of the time…' she pondered to herself, trying to put her small evil brain at work. 

'Now, if someone new wants to be under me, then they have to be absolutely under me!'

With that thought in mind, Lady smiles a mischievous smile.

---

Sadly, parting ways with Fallon has come earlier than what Lady would have wanted – and it was all thanks to Sylvia.

"To begin with, you're only allowed to go to school then straight back home while you're grounded. Isn't that your punishment, Young Miss? So, I'm afraid I can't do anything about your complaints."

"But, Sylvia, I was only talking with Fallon! And we just got a little hungry so I suggested that we go to that bakery!"

"Oh, so I was right. You were the one who roped the Young Master into this after all. Wait until the President learn about this-"

"W-W-With his permission, of course! Come on! I-I could not have possibly gone there on my own! His driver was with us the whole time, too!" 

Choosing not to speak anymore, Sylvia just holds back a sigh. It's too early to be showing any sign of exhaustion around Lady.

It seems that the rumors about the Young Miss of the Mireille's are true. She did turn out to be quite a free-spirited girl. Her actions hold no thought for the future, and her manners are far from refined despite her status. She is also gutsy and self-assertive. No wonder she always managed to get into trouble.

For all her flaws and faults, though, she is still like a fresh breath of air to her.

"W-What?" Lady blurted out when she realized that Sylvia was looking at her again.   

Despite the reprimanding that she would surely receive once she got home, she still found it in herself to buy a whole stash of chocolate chip cookies from the bakery and bring it back with her. She was even munching on one now while she was supposed to be in the middle of explaining herself. 

"You want some~?" Lady asked with a somewhat-too-innocent grin, offering Sylvia a cookie – or more like, a bribe.

"You may need to hand over the whole thing to me, Young Miss."

"Huh?! Why?! Are you that much of a glutton?! I regret I asked!"

"I'm not eating them. I'm confiscating them."

"Ehhh?!!! You can't!"

"Isn't it part of your punishment to limit your consumption of these-"

"I won't hand over even a single crumb! You'll have to make me first!

With that, Lady began munching on her cookies once again – faster this time. Sylvia watches with a dumbfounded face as she chomps and gobbles them all up one by one. 

This is what she means by her being a fresh breath of air. She was just too different from most children of her caliber. Some would always be at their best behavior in order to earn respect and acknowledgment while others would be too distant and apathetic to even care about interacting with those under them. She, on the other hand, was a force she could not quite reckon.

"Please, slow down, Young Miss. You're going to choke at this rate," she practically begged, concerned if she was actually trying to suffocate herself with all those cookies she just wolfed down.

"But you're going to take them away! I'd rather eat them all at once before you do so!" she exclaimed in a barely intelligible, muffled voice.

"Okay, okay. I won't. Just please."

"You promise?"

Sylvia nods, deciding to just give in. Lady smirks at this in triumph.

Perhaps, she was not just trained enough for this. Since she came from a well-esteemed household with a strong sense of noblesse oblige, she did not expect that being a personal attendant of one of their members would involve dealing with a little girl who would try to threaten her like this. She was obviously pulling a trick on her, and she was clearly happy she succeeded.   

It's not part of her duty to discipline her, though, so this is as far as she can go.     

"Here you go, Sylvia."

Then, all of the sudden, Lady puts a piece of cookie down on her lap. It has a napkin wrapped around it to keep it clean, which gives Sylvia the impression that she really wants to give it to her regardless if she will accept it or not.

"My gift to you! A mark of our meeting today…!" she chirped happily. 

"So, ummm… Congrats on being hired, I guess?"

Now, that smile – that looks more like a bribe than the cookies. Very sweet and very pleasant.

Sylvia keeps her expressionless face on nonetheless. It must be that Lady does this all the time.

"I heard from the others that it's not easy to get a job from our family. So, I believe you worked very hard to get here. Oh, but don't worry. I'm no handful at all…" she told her with a meaningful look, and though she knew that half of that was true while the other half felt like a huge, fat lie for some reason, she just gave her a nod in understanding.

"I'm looking forward to getting along with you, Sylvia."

---

"F-Father, how many times do I have to tell you that this is not how you should treat a little lady?!"

Moments after arriving home, Lady finds herself being tormented by Maximilian yet again.

They were about to have dinner by then. Yet, as soon as he saw her at the dining hall, he walked up to her without a word and grabbed a hold on both of her cheeks. Everyone who was there at that moment was taken aback by this - especially her, the most bamboozled of all. From thereon, her face remained trapped and squished between his huge, rough hand. 

"You…" he muttered underneath his breath, peering at her intently.

"I was correct. You indeed got fat."

"That, too, is absolutely not how you should treat a little lady…" she spat in exasperation, though she tried to be calmer this time so as to understand what was really going on with him.

"You're so mean, Father. No girl wants to be told she's fat. What's your deal?"

"It's all on those sugars that you secretly snacked on while I wasn't looking. You've only got yourself to blame, Lady. So, don't cry if you get a bloated tummy."

"Y-Y-Y-You really knew all along?!"

"Of course, I do. That being said, you're double grounded." 

At that, she started to tear up. His eyes widened for a bit right then.

Seeing her cheeks get squished while her eyes are looking all watery is giving him what seemed like the oddest feeling of euphoria for some unknown reason. He could not help but be compelled at how his hand alone could earn him such an adorably helpless look from her daughter's face – a look similar to a squirrel when it tried to eat too many nuts at once. 

"Nooo!!! I don't wanna be fat, Daddyyy!!!" 

Maximilian can only make an incredulous face at that, wondering why Lady seems more upset about getting more weight than being grounded again.